BIOGRAPHY
Corey Duane Campbell (born April 4, 1969)
is the author of the poetry book “BlackChild’s Rhythms Of Life”. He has attended and spoken at many spoken
word venues around his hometown in Memphis, Tennessee. He was an active member of Poemhunter.com,
where he listed a number of his writings and made it available for all readers
on the site. He received positive comments
from readers of all walks of life.
While a member at Christ The Rock Church, he introduced his spiritual
side in his writings. There, other
members and poets gave him praises. This encouraged him to write more. He wrote a chapbook called “A Brother’s
Song”, which sold very well around his hometown.
Corey
Duane Campbell was born in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1969. He grew up in
Kankakee, IL. then moved to south Memphis, TN.
living on Jeanette Street. His
family later moved further south to Whitehaven . He went to Mark Twain
Elementary (Kankakee IL), Lauderdale Elementary, Raineshaven Elementary, Lanier
Junior High, and Whitehaven High. After graduating from high school, he moved
and attended college at Tennessee
State University (Nashville, Tennessee), where he worked toward his degree in
Computer Science Technology. While attending Tennessee State University he was
a member of the Aristocrat Of Bands.
Being a Dean’s List student, he was nominated Outstanding College
Student Of America and was pictured in his hometown newspaper.
He
moved back to Memphis Tennessee finding work as a Computer Systems Operator at
Schering Plough. He attended State Technical
Institute with plans to continue pursuing his education in Computer
Programming. While working full time he
was still able to maintain a GPA of 3.0 and received an academic certificate
from State Technical Institute. Corey
has worked in the IT field of System Administration and Engineering for 19
years. Thus, receiving several
certificates, awards, and promotions.
His employers consists of the following major corporations: Schering Plough, Time Warner, International
Paper, FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), AT&T Wireless, and
FedEx.
During
the early and mid ‘80s, Corey was an active writer and music lover. He was introduced to several styles of
music. His mother would play gospel
& other style of music from artists such as Mahalia Jackson, Lena Horne,
Sam Cooke, The Blind Boys, Temptations, Smokey and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Gladys
Knight and the Pips. His dad was a
major blues fan. He would play music
from artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Robert
Johnson, Sony Boy Williams (Little Boy Blue), Chuck Berry, B.B. King, and
Albert King. In Elementary school,
Corey participated in the choir and became an active member of the marching
band in Jr. High and High School. He
learned and played concert music, country music, jazz music, and many others.
While growing up during the beginning of the hip hop generation, he
became interested in rhyme and poetry.
He learned poetry from his 10th grade English Teacher. She taught him poetry styles and introduced
him to poets such as Phillis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, Edgar
Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson. Using what he learned, his writings became more matured. For example, he played bass guitar in a
music group called “Midnight Mission”.
As a member, he and others wrote and produced their own songs. Later (while in college), finding that one
of the songs written in high school was later song by Whitney Houston and
Jermaine Jackson (Nobody Loves Me Like You Do). Because they were young and didn’t copyright the song they wrote
in the recording studio, their credits were lost. He also enjoyed writing rap lyrics just to play around in his
high school hallways with his friends.
During
his adult years, Corey’s experiences with life grew. He would always write his thoughts on paper as well as write
songs while humming music in his head.
His grandmother was a retired teacher.
She would keep writings, historical newspaper clips, old coins, or
anything dealing with history and historical world news. His grandmother noticed one of his
writings. She asked him if he could
give all of his writings to her instead of throwing them away. She encouraged him to write more. She would always tell him that he should
write a book. One night, Corey visited
a poetry club in his hometown. After
hearing local poets, he felt his writings was on the same level as the poets
that spoke at the club. The very next
week, Corey visited the club and brought two of his poems. He signed up to speak on the open mic going
under the name “BlackChild”. This was a
nickname given to him as a member of the motorcycle club “Unbreakables”. After reciting his poem “Scared Of U
As U Of Us”, he received great applause and snaps. After then, he recited another one of his
poems called “Uncle Tom”.
This poem captured the audience attention and also received great
applause. From then, Corey was known as
the poet “BlackChild” around town. He
has spoken several times at the following clubs in Memphis, Tennessee: Nappy By Nature, Java Cabana, Precious
Cargo, and Hattiloo Theatre. He has
some of his writings posted on Poemhunter.com.
He wrote a chapbook called “A Brother’s Song”. He currently has finished his first poetry
book called “BlackChild’s Rhythms Of Life”.
